The present invention relates generally to electrical connectors and, more particularly, to a mounting structure for mounting an electrical connector on a printed circuit board.
A mounting structure of this type is described in Japanese U.M. Pat. Application Kokai No. 62-74770. This electrical connector includes an insulating housing having a lateral recess extending forwardly from the rear end thereof and a vertical recess extending downwardly from the rear portion of the lateral recess, and an attachment member having a lateral section fitted into the lateral recess and a leg member which extends downwardly from the lateral section and fits in the vertical recess and into an aperture of a printed circuit board.
The lateral section of the attachment member extends almost up to the front end of the insulating housing into which a mating connector is plugged so that the plugging force is distributed to the lateral section.
The electrical connector, however, has the following disadvantages.
(1) The lateral section of the attachment member extends into the lateral recess so long that when a lateral force is applied to the insulating housing upon plugging, the lateral section is bent outwardly allowing too much play between the insulating housing and the attachment member. Consequently, a concentrated load is applied to the leg member upon plugging causing a crack in the solder joint between the leg member and the circuit board resulting in separation of the solder joint.
(2) The leg member also serves as contact so that it is necessary to make it from a thick metal sheet to give satisfactory spring property. This cause weak engagement between the lateral section and the lateral recess, resulting in premature loose engagement between them.
(3) The engagement between the lateral recess and the latch projection on the tip of the lateral section is not sufficient to withstand repeated plugging operations, resulting in too much play between the lateral recess and the lateral section.